“Don’t postpone joy.” This phrase is somewhat of a mantra for a few who joined us on our recent trip this past December to Costa De Cocos in Xcalak, Mexico. It’s a quaint statement that can be applied to many situations in life. Postponing joy actually seems to make a lot of sense for those…
Tarpon Diaries – Lessons and After Action Report If you have not gathered from my previous posts, this was my first time fly fishing for tarpon. In all actuality, this was my first true saltwater fly fishing trip (I wouldn’t count casting into the Southern California surf for a few hours a true saltwater fly…
Tarpon Diaries, Day 6 – Bus Bergmann Our guide, Bus Bergmann, has been a Florida Keys flats guide for the better part of thirty-five years. Starting his guiding career in Alaska as a wilderness float trip guide (and river pioneer) and acquiring a steelhead guide position on the Babine River in British Columbia, Bus is…
Tarpon Diaries, Day 5 – Break Him Down Tarpon have a term that I have not heard with any other fly fishing quary. This term came about because the stakes are so much higher with tarpon on the fly. The size of the fish, coupled with the travel involved, compounded by the limited number of shots you…
Tarpon Diaries, Day 4 – Silver Ghost Tarpon have been called silver kings. Kings of the flats some say. They may be kings to some, but to me they are ghosts. Slipping in and out again like a wisp of wind. By the time I see them and have a shot, it is too late. It…
Tarpon Diaries, Day 3 – Silver King Within the first 40 minutes of the day we have shots at 3 strings of about 8 each. Happy tarpon. After that, very little showing. We see them break from far off, but they turn and miss us. The light is flat and we can’t see a thing. …
Tarpon Diaries, Day 2 – The Deck Rocking in the waves, loosing my balance. Standing on the deck thinking I am going blind. Strain my eyes to see something. Nothing. It’s hot. The breeze cools my face. These waves are trying to rock me to sleep and I fight weariness. Tell another story to pass the…
This past week, I was fortunate enough to fill a spot for four and a half days on John’s tarpon dates in the Florida Keys with master guide Bus Bergmann. This was a very last minute opportunity (maybe even a once in a lifetime), so I went for it. Knowing very little about saltwater fly fishing…
Tom, Kyle, and Buck recently returned from a trip to Christmas Island. Christmas Island (also known as Kiritimati Island), is a flats fishing heaven for bonefish 1000 miles south of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. Here are some photos to make us all a little jealous.
